Breaking News in the Industry: January 10, 2019

New card fraud scam targets EMV chips

A new warning is coming from the Better Business Bureau about a different method crooks are using to steal information from your credit or debit card. It is called “shimming” and having a chip card offers some protection but not enough. It can cause problems because people love to use either their credit or debit cards, and as many as 2.3 million stores have the device for cards with the security chip.

According to credit card company VISA, counterfeit fraud dropped 58 percent from 2017 to 2018 because of the EMV chip. Just when you thought it was unnecessary to look over your shoulder, the BBB of the Mid-South warns the crooks have not rested and created the new method. Randy Hutchinson of the BBB described this new criminal work around by crooks to get access to credit and debit card information. “They put a little reader inside the slot that you insert your card in the credit card terminal and it reads the information in the chip,” said Hutchinson. That gets enough information to create a bogus card and make online purchases.

“They can’t actually create another chip card because they haven’t cracked the chip yet,” Hutchinson said. How often does shimming happen? Industry data is not readily available. Hutchinson said consumers should be weary when their credit or debit card gets stuck in the machine longer than expected and the prompts on the screen take a while to appear. He said when that happens, consumers should call their banks to let them know they may have been “shimmed.” [Source: Fox13 News]

Two- time Good Samaritan foils burglary; finds missing woman

A reporter in Shelby Township, Michigan, who helped police catch a robbery suspect last week followed up with another good deed by finding an 89-year-old suburban Detroit woman with dementia who had wandered away from home in sub-freezing temperatures. WWJ reporter Mike Campbell was covering Barbara Kasler’s disappearance when he spotted her Wednesday morning in her pajamas and slippers along a street in Shelby Township. Campbell took Kasler into his vehicle and cranked up the heat until police arrived. She was taken to a hospital for observation. Campbell says he was just “in the right place at the right time,” but police tweeted that “We owe you lunch!” Last week, Campbell helped police apprehend a man suspected of looting a fire-damaged shopping center in the Detroit suburb of Warren. [Source: Yakima-Herald]

Senior regional director for Apple’s Asia-Pacific operations Donald Shruhan will reportedly visit the Bucheon Sosa police station in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, on Friday to present the plaque to the officers involved in the regional crackdown. The criminals were locally distributing fake Apple charging cables and earphones, reports the Korea Herald. The knock-off products are said to have been imported from China, with police still working to trace how the goods entered the country. The apprehended distributors are also under investigation on suspicions of fraud and trademark violation.

Shruhan is currently leading Apple’s anti-counterfeiting operations in China, and previously worked with Pfizer to crack down on counterfeit Viagra sales and production.Counterfeit products remain an issue for Apple and other device vendors, with consumers tricked into buying the fake versions or tempted by the cheaper knock-offs, as they can potentially be dangerous and cause harm to devices or human life due to not undergoing the same safety checks as real products.

The sale of fake goods can be highly profitable to criminals taking part in such schemes. In February 2018, one Chinese national living in the United States pleaded guilty to conspiracy and trafficking of counterfeit Apple products, which reportedly earned him more than $1.1 million. A six-month investigation and a police raid on a warehouse in London in August 2017 uncovered a collection of fake Apple products worth an estimated $1.69 million. [Source: AppleInsider]

Data breach will cost retailer $1.5M

Neiman Marcus will pay $1.5 million to 43 states over a 2013 data breach that exposed customer credit card data, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday. The breach, which was disclosed to the public in January 2014, occurred over a three month period the year prior. Roughly 370,000 Neiman Marcus credit cards used at 77 stores nationwide were accessed by an unknown third party. At least 9,200 of them were used fraudulently, according to a statement from Paxton’s office. As part of the settlement, the Dallas-based luxury department store retailer must implement new procedures to protect customers’ personal information and ward off future attacks. It also must obtain an information security assessment from a third-party professional.[Source: RetailDIVE]

The food and beverage sector is the most targeted (at 27 percent). Consumer products and hi-tech electronics industries also suffer high rates of cargo theft. Warehousing is the second most vulnerable target at 19 percent. Transport by road is the most often targeted mode for cargo crime across the globe, at a whopping 75 percent. Warehousing is the second most vulnerable target at 19 percent. The report can be downloaded here and includes several pieces of loss prevention advice to counter the identified threats. [Source: Global Trade Magazine]

Mom using 7-year-old to shoplift tells her side of the story

The Bellevue, Washington, mother accused of using her 7-year-old to shoplift is telling her side of the story. LaVonya Walker, 48, says she did not tell her son to steal and was surprised when she found out he’d taken two pairs of sunglasses.She said she didn’t know they were in the bag he was carrying until the two of them were stopped by loss prevention associates at Macy’s on New Year’s Day.

Walker claims a drug dealer forced her to steal and threatened her and her children and has been threatening her for years. She said the man shot and killed her dog in front of her children. Walker said the man called her with a list of items to shoplift on the same day.

Investigators say Walker admitted she was part of an organized retail theft ring, but Bellevue police say she did not tell them she was a victim of extortion or threats when she was arrested. Walker pleaded guilty to organized retail theft charges in December 2016. She’s under Department of Corrections supervision and says she doesn’t want to be taken away from her children. She says she plans to stop stealing and get help for herself and her children. [Source: KIRO7 News]

Current Issue

From shoplifting response and reaction to a conversation with a supply chain omni-channel expert, from the bumpy road of supply chain security to managing unexpected loss in the bagging area, the January–February 2019 issue of LP Magazine delivers great ideas to make you a smarter LP professional.